It had been our dream for a long time to convert and travel in a campervan and after the 2020 lockdown meant our holiday plans were cancelled and we had some extra time on our hands, we decided to finally make this dream come true!
By summer 2021, our van was near enough complete and we were ready to do our first big road trip - to the North of Scotland. It was the best adventure and definitely sparked our excitement for van-life as well as our love of beautiful, remote Scotland with its moody skies, sandy beaches and stunning road-side views.
So without further ado, here is our itinerary from our two week NC500 and Skye road trip!
Day 1 - Edinburgh
After driving up from the Lake District (our stop over on the way north), we spent our first afternoon in the capital; Edinburgh. We walked around the town and up to Edinburgh Castle, taking in the views of the city. We then headed to Bread Meets Bread in the town centre for dinner before driving out to the River Forth estuary where we stayed the night.
Day 2 - Loch Lomond
The next day we drove up to Alva where we met up with Callum’s Uncle who lives there, then headed on to Loch Lomond. We got there in the evening and stopped at a quiet beach for a swim. It was lovely and peaceful! We then drove north to find a park-up for the night but saw a sign for the Falls of Falloch so decided to explore. They were a great surprise and definitely worth a quick visit! They would probably also be a lovely place for a wild swim if we hadn’t just swam at Loch Lomond.
Day 3 - Skye via Glenfinnan
We headed west towards Skye but knew we wanted to stop at the famous Glenfinnan Viaduct on the way. Here the car park was fairly expensive, especially for vans, so we risked it and ran to get a quick view of the viaduct. We do slightly regret not paying for the carpark and waiting for the famous Harry Potter train to come by though, but maybe another time..
After visiting the Viaduct, we headed to Malaig where we got the ferry to Skye. We definitely recommend doing this at least one way as it was beautiful seeing the island from the water! When we arrived on Skye, we drove to the pretty little town of Portree and had the first of many coffees at Birch coffee shop. In the evening, we drove up to Staffin where we found a quiet park-up right by the water and sat by the fire listening to the rippling waves.
Day 4 - Old Man of Storr and Lealt Falls
On day 4 of our trip, we went early to hike up the Old Man of Storr and parked along the road at the bottom. It rained most of the way up but it was so beautiful and moody looking down at the views. We actually kind of love Scotland in the rain! After this, we went to explore Lealt Falls; a large waterfall walking distance from the sea.
Day 5 - Fairie Pools and Coral Beach
We absolutely loved our trip to the Fairie Pools on Skye. Again, we got there early and decided to park in a small car park up the road from the falls which was a lot cheaper than the big car park nearer to the foot of the falls. The Fairie Pools are a must for a wild swim and even though the weather was a grey and a bit chilly, it was amazing! As we walked back, we could feel it getting busier so it’s definitely worth getting there early.
That evening, we headed out to coral beach, an unusual beach made up of tiny coral-like seaweed. It's about a half an hour walk from a small carpark. Unfortunately, when we visited it was a bit drizzly so we didn’t get to see the turquoise sea we had read about but it was beautiful all the same!
Day 6 - Off the Island and onto the NC500
On our last morning on Skye, we couldn’t resist one last hot chocolate from Birch. We enjoyed this sitting by the pretty Portee harbour before driving off the Island via the bridge and onto the NC500. We drove probably the most stunning part of the journey looking over the mountains of Skye and up the famous Bealach na Bà mountain pass. This was Amy’s first time driving the van and not only was it raining but we met lots of cars on the way up so it was certainly a challenge but so worth it for the incredible views!
After conquering the pass, we stopped in Applecross for a drink and to visit the Applecross Photographic Gallery. We then drove on even further, stopping at the Loch Torridon viewpoint for dinner and making it to Gairloch beach in time to enjoy the sunset. What a day!
Day 7 - Making our way north, beach by beach
This day was mostly spent beach-hopping along the coast, eating chips in Ullapool (about the only thing going for it unless you need to catch a ferry, in our opinion!) and spending the evening looking out at the Kylesku bridge and Loch a' Chàirn Bhàin. We couldn’t quite believe this was Scotland - it definitely had Norway vibes!
Day 8 - Oldshoremore
On day 8 we decided to take a little detour off the NC500 route and drove out to Oldshoremore where we met up with some family and enjoyed slowing down for a bit. We absolutely loved the remote feel of this area and the stunning, sandy beaches.
Day 9 - Sandwood Bay
After a morning swim at Oldshoremore beach, we did the 4 mile hike to Sandwood Bay. Although it rained non-stop all the way back, it was so worth it as this is such a beautiful beach. Definitely one of the highlights of our trip! That evening, we drove onto Durness and parked for the night in a lay-by with amazing sea views.
Day 10 - A day in Durness
After slowing down at Oldshoremore, we switched gears again for another crazy day in and around Durness! We began by visiting Smoo Cave followed by a hot chocolate at the infamous Cocoa Mountain (a must!). We then headed to Balnakeil Beach for a kayak and drove onto Dunnet Bay for dinner before heading to Dunnet Head (the most northerly point) just in time for sunset. We slept overnight in a lay-by right by Dunnet Head. It was fun to think we were possibly the furthest north of anyone on mainland Britain at that point!
Day 11 - Thurso and John O'Groats
We started the day driving back to Thurso as we wanted to visit the lovely Olive Cafe. There didn’t seem to be a lot else in Thurso and definitely no surf so we drove onto John O'Groats, just to say we had been there to be honest! It’s a lot like Land’s End in Cornwall - lots of souvenir shops and overpriced food! After this quick visit, we drove down to Portmahomack, where we had fish and chips on the beach.
Day 12 - Inverness
The next day, we began with a sea swim as we had slept right by the beach. We then spent most of the day in Inverness, wandering the streets and visiting Leakey’s Bookshop. After this, we drove to Loch Ness for an evening stroll.
Day 13 - The Cairngorms
As our trip was coming to an end, we drove through the Cairngorms, stopping in Aviemore for some lunch. We didn’t really know what to do with ourselves as it felt like all the best bits of our trip were over but we stopped in Glenmore Forest Park along the way and ended the day in Edinburgh.
Day 14 - Edinburgh
The last day of our Scotland journey was spent in Edinburgh, visiting all the places we didn’t have time for on the way up and reminiscing about the highlights of our trip.
So there you have it - our two week NC500 and Skye itinerary! I don’t think we quite realised how much we managed to cram in to the two weeks until writing it all out! But somehow it didn’t feel rushed at the time and there’s not a lot we would change. Our highlights were definitely Sandwood Bay, Skye (in general) and the drive from Applecross to Gairloch.
Was it easy to find park-ups?
Absolutely yes. We had been warned Scotland was busy this summer as people weren’t travelling abroad so we thought we might have to get to park-ups early to find space but to be honest we didn’t experience that at all. Busy Scotland is very different to busy Cornwall! We mostly found parking in lay-bys and the odd car park and generally they were quiet spots with a few other vans where we weren’t disturbed. We did also book 3 campsites spaced out across the two weeks so we knew we could have a shower, empty our toilet and fill up our water when needed.
How about the midges?
We went to Scotland at the beginning of August. There were midges and at times they were pretty bad to the point that we had to climb in and out of the van as quickly as we could so we didn’t let them in! It meant some times we had to be inside with doors and windows shut but there were also nights with a breeze when we were able to cook outside or have a fire with no problem. It just depended on the weather really.
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